Aussies primed for water polo champions

The Australian men's water polo team insist they won't be daunted when they host Olympic champions Croatia in Perth next month.

Croatia have named eight members of their gold-medal winning team from London for the Aquatic Super Series showdown against the Aussie Sharks on January 19.

The Sharks finished seventh in London, but dual Olympian Rhys Howden said the team would embrace the challenge of taking on Serbia.

"We showed in London that we're not that far off the mark in the big games," Howden said.

"We led Serbia, who won the bronze, and were pretty close to Italy, who got silver. This is a chance to play another top team.

"I see this as an opportunity for us to continue to improve and for some of the younger Australian players who have been named to show what they've got against a top European team."

Australia's provisional squad features six players who featured in London, while Croatia will be led by 203cm Maro Jokovic, who scored three goals in Croatia's 8-6 Olympic final victory over Italy,

The Australian women's side, the Aussie Stingers, have selected six members of their bronze medal winning London Olympic team for their January 18 clash with China.

Swimming stars James Magnussen, Alicia Coutts, Melanie Schlanger and Cate Campbell are part of Australia's 30-strong team for the January 18-20 Super Series, where swimmers from Australia, China and South Africa will compete for $500,000 in prize money.

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